Blogs

I am used to explaining the issues of tuberculosis as a global health program to my friends, as many of them view it as an issue that was resolved in the 1900s. However, I was surprised to be facing the same struggle when talking to a group of friends from the developing world, including friends from Mozambique and Afghanistan- two of the 22 high-burden TB countries.

A few weeks ago, a teacher in Texas walked into a high school classroom with a cough. Now at least 128 students have tested positive for Tuberculosis (TB) - a disease that though curable still shockingly takes the lives of 1.7 million people a year.

ACTION asked Jen Pollakusky, a Senior Public Policy and Advocacy Officer at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, to write a blog about current issues in childhood TB-HIV co-infection. The Foundation has a long history of advocating for child health and is a key ally in the fight against childhood TB-HIV.

Last week, the GAVI Alliance announced the approval of a new wave of funding for lifesaving vaccines for children around the world. With resources garnered from its successful pledging conference in June (in part due to advocacy from ACTION partners), the GAVI Alliance Executive Committee reviewed and approved financing applications for 37 countries to roll out new and underused vaccines.

In many parts of the world, the epidemics of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis have merged together, forming a super-epidemic. The human toll is staggering. But new scientific modeling shows that we can reverse it, saving a million lives from TB-HIV disease between now and 2015. But world leaders must act. That’s why we need you. Leaders are convening this week at the United Nations to chart the future global response to HIV/AIDS. Join us in sending a million messages — fight AIDS and TB together to save a million lives!

When I first got involved in the global TB world about eight years ago, one of my first questions was “Why don’t TB programs treat children with TB?” I was told basically, from a public health perspective, it was because children aren’t infectious. Well, as a mother of three, that rationale would not work for me if one of my children had TB. In fact, of course children with TB are treated in the U.S. It’s a different story for children in low-income countries that are always at the back of the line for everything, TB care being no exception.